Changes

== Etymology ==

== Etymology ==

<blockquote>पुमान् सूयते अनेन इति पुंसवनम्। pumān sūyate anena iti puṃsavanam।</blockquote>Male child is born by this and therefore it is called Puṃsavanam.<blockquote>पुंसुवनं व्यक्ते गर्भे तिष्येण। (आपस्तम्बगृह्यसूत्रम्, १४.९)

<blockquote>पुमान् सूयते अनेन इति पुंसवनम्।  

 

pumān sūyate anena iti puṃsavanam।</blockquote>Male child is born by this and therefore it is called Puṃsavanam.<blockquote>पुंसुवनं व्यक्ते गर्भे तिष्येण। (आपस्तम्बगृह्यसूत्रम्, १४.९)

puṃsuvanaṃ vyakte garbhe tiṣyeṇa। (Āpastambagṛhyasūtram, 14.9)</blockquote>The Puṃsuvanam is to be performed when pregnancy is apparent under the star "Tiṣya" ( = Puṣyamī) .

puṃsuvanaṃ vyakte garbhe tiṣyeṇa। (Āpastambagṛhyasūtram, 14.9)</blockquote>The Puṃsuvanam is to be performed when pregnancy is apparent under the star "Tiṣya" ( = Puṣyamī) .

== Pumsavana: Historical Glimpse ==

== Pumsavana: Historical Glimpse ==

Progeny is the ardent desire of every couple. The structure of the family involving the parents and children maintains a social identity. Every patent has a definite longing for the male and female children. Particularly at the moment of exploring the controls on population and binding socio economic conditions, the parents would definitely like to limit the number of their children and would expect to have choice of the sex of the child before his birth. Therefore, it may not be astonishing that the intellectual medicos of the society put some scientific efforts in this direction to fulfill the desires of the parents.  Such endeavors do not seem to  have arise only today. It definitely has a long trail of history backing it. The cultural and spiritual ideologies and performances of our society are quite evident for this notion. The ancient scriptures of the Veda also provide the historical support. Many rituals are advocated in the Veda are named as Pumsavan but is should not be considered that the efforts of intellectual and scientists are only towards the increment of the male individuals in the society. In the Veda has also been described the ritual called ‘Staishuya’ which causes the birth of a female child. However,  due to  certain social  belief it  seems  that  the  Pumsavana  procedure became  more popular than the straishaya procedure. Putresti Yajna is also described in Charaka Samhita. A methodology is also explained as  Pumsavana Vidhi or Samskara which includes administration of some drugs through the nose as well as the oral route for the pregnant lady.  Such method of transforming the sex of the foetus is still new for the present scientific world. Only a few researches were under taken for trial and no such methods are presently observed in practice.  Therefore,  the  Pumsavana  Samskara  not  only  provides  a  histological  basis  of  the medical science but also faces a challenge ahead.<ref name=":0">Amin, Hetal & Sharma, Rohit. (2016). PUMSAVANA SAMSKARA: MYTH OR SCIENCE?. World Journal of Pharmacological Research and Technology. 4. 209-212.</ref>

(TBE)Progeny is the ardent desire of every couple. The structure of the family involving the parents and children maintains a social identity. Every patent has a definite longing for the male and female children. Particularly at the moment of exploring the controls on population and binding socio economic conditions, the parents would definitely like to limit the number of their children and would expect to have choice of the sex of the child before his birth. Therefore, it may not be astonishing that the intellectual medicos of the society put some scientific efforts in this direction to fulfill the desires of the parents.  Such endeavors do not seem to  have arise only today. It definitely has a long trail of history backing it. The cultural and spiritual ideologies and performances of our society are quite evident for this notion. The ancient scriptures of the Veda also provide the historical support. Many rituals are advocated in the Veda are named as Pumsavan but is should not be considered that the efforts of intellectual and scientists are only towards the increment of the male individuals in the society. In the Veda has also been described the ritual called ‘Staishuya’ which causes the birth of a female child. However,  due to  certain social  belief it  seems  that  the  Pumsavana  procedure became  more popular than the straishaya procedure. Putresti Yajna is also described in Charaka Samhita. A methodology is also explained as  Pumsavana Vidhi or Samskara which includes administration of some drugs through the nose as well as the oral route for the pregnant lady.  Such method of transforming the sex of the foetus is still new for the present scientific world. Only a few researches were under taken for trial and no such methods are presently observed in practice.  Therefore,  the  Pumsavana  Samskara  not  only  provides  a  histological  basis  of  the medical science but also faces a challenge ahead.<ref name=":0">Amin, Hetal & Sharma, Rohit. (2016). PUMSAVANA SAMSKARA: MYTH OR SCIENCE?. World Journal of Pharmacological Research and Technology. 4. 209-212.</ref>

== Pumsavana described in vedas and Ayurveda ==

== Pumsavana described in vedas and Ayurveda ==

Early references to rituals aimed at masculinizing the foetus are found in the Atharva veda and Samaveda-Mantra-Brahmana.<ref>Rajbali Pandey - Hindu Samskaras – Socio-religious study of the Hindu Sacraments</ref> Masculinizing the fetus is related to life of the developing baby. Thus Ayurveda which is called as the science of life and which is an [[Upavedas (उपवेदाः)|upaveda]] of [[Atharvaveda (अथर्ववेदः)|Atharvaveda]]  also gives definite attention to the topic of Pumsavana and deals with the technicalities involved in this samskara.<ref name=":1" /> <ref name=":2" />   

Early references to rituals aimed at masculinizing the foetus are found in the Atharva veda and Samaveda-Mantra-Brahmana.<ref>Rajbali Pandey - Hindu Samskaras – Socio-religious study of the Hindu Sacraments</ref> Masculinizing the fetus is related to life of the developing baby. Thus Ayurveda which is called as the science of life and which is an [[Upavedas (उपवेदाः)|upaveda]] of [[Atharvaveda (अथर्ववेदः)|Atharvaveda]]  also gives definite attention to the topic of Pumsavana and deals with the technicalities involved in this samskara.<ref name=":1" /> <ref name=":2" />   

== Necessity of Pumsavana Karma and its scientific explanation: ==

== Necessity of Pumsavana Karma and its scientific explanation: ==

The  methodology  of  Pumsavana Karma  does  not  limit  to  more  scientific  explanation  or ritualistic performance. At the hour of population explosion, there is definitely a need to have the control over the population in a planned manner by which the ration between the populations be maintained. This is very much necessary to guard the social status and behaviors. Though many of the parents desire to limit their number of children but, however it becomes difficult for them due to the lack of facilities which either determined the sex in  before hand or  due to lack of known scientific  basis to  obtain a child of  desired  sex. However,  the  recent  development  in medical science has discovered a procedure by which the sex of the child in the womb can be determined which is well known as amniocenteses. This is resulted, however, in as bad practice of killing in numerical female foetus. Therefore, the safest measurement still remains negatively at large. On other hand, the science has absolutely no record of any of the in vitro method which can change the sex of the foetus as desired. Therefore, a methodology like Pumsavana Samskara is a needed entity for the present society. By proper understanding of the scientific background and  its  known  implications  will  definitely  receive  rousing  welcome  from  the  educated individuals.<ref name=":0" />

(TBE)The  methodology  of  Pumsavana Karma  does  not  limit  to  more  scientific  explanation  or ritualistic performance. At the hour of population explosion, there is definitely a need to have the control over the population in a planned manner by which the ration between the populations be maintained. This is very much necessary to guard the social status and behaviors. Though many of the parents desire to limit their number of children but, however it becomes difficult for them due to the lack of facilities which either determined the sex in  before hand or  due to lack of known scientific  basis to  obtain a child of  desired  sex. However,  the  recent  development  in medical science has discovered a procedure by which the sex of the child in the womb can be determined which is well known as amniocenteses. This is resulted, however, in as bad practice of killing in numerical female foetus. Therefore, the safest measurement still remains negatively at large. On other hand, the science has absolutely no record of any of the in vitro method which can change the sex of the foetus as desired. Therefore, a methodology like Pumsavana Samskara is a needed entity for the present society. By proper understanding of the scientific background and  its  known  implications  will  definitely  receive  rousing  welcome  from  the  educated individuals.<ref name=":0" />

== The psycho-spiritual effects of punsavan sanskara on pregnant mother and foetus ==

== The psycho-spiritual effects of punsavan sanskara on pregnant mother and foetus ==

All conscious parents wish that the child in the womb - whether son or daughter should be full of strength and vigor; should be healthy, diseasefree, long-lived, intelligent and good looking. The second ritual - the Punsavan sanskara is performed with this objective, two to three months after the foetus is placed in the mother's womb. (Sharma, 2016)

(TBE)All conscious parents wish that the child in the womb - whether son or daughter should be full of strength and vigor; should be healthy, diseasefree, long-lived, intelligent and good looking. The second ritual - the Punsavan sanskara is performed with this objective, two to three months after the foetus is placed in the mother's womb. (Sharma, 2016)

The experiments on the Punsavan sanskara have revealed startling results: the mothers, who were prone to abortion or whose earlier issues were subjected to metabolic system's deficiencies or to some genetic disorders since birth, have delivered healthy babies after this sanskara. It has now been accepted by the researchers that the herbal preparation processed under the vitally charged vapors of yagya affects the cellular and molecular (including genetic) systems. (Sharma, 2016)<ref>Chandrakar, R., Kumar, K., & Verma, S. (2016). The psycho-spiritual effects of punsavan sanskara on pregnant mother and foetus. International Journal of Science and Consciousness; 2(3): 1- 12.</ref>

The experiments on the Punsavan sanskara have revealed startling results: the mothers, who were prone to abortion or whose earlier issues were subjected to metabolic system's deficiencies or to some genetic disorders since birth, have delivered healthy babies after this sanskara. It has now been accepted by the researchers that the herbal preparation processed under the vitally charged vapors of yagya affects the cellular and molecular (including genetic) systems. (Sharma, 2016)<ref>Chandrakar, R., Kumar, K., & Verma, S. (2016). The psycho-spiritual effects of punsavan sanskara on pregnant mother and foetus. International Journal of Science and Consciousness; 2(3): 1- 12.</ref>